Ericsson gets a $150 million bargain on its corruption fine from the US

Swedish kit vendor Ericsson got a $150 early Christmas present from US authorities after its fine for violating corruption laws was finally revealed.

The consequence of being found guilty of using back-handers to grease the wheels of commerce in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait as recently as Q1 2017 is a fine of SEK10.1 billion. But since Ericsson had already  accounted for a fine of SEK 11.5 billion that means it now has ~150 million dollars more than it expected to. It can now spend that bonus wedge on Christmas presents which, of course, it will account for in a transparent and correct manner.

To be fair to Ericsson this is probably common business practice in some or all of those countries, but the trick is not to get caught isn’t it? Both the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have a piece of this action and seem to have split the winnings equally, so Christmas should be fun there too.